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.“I admit that I got upset when I first saw you here,” he said, looking his boyfriend straight in the eye.“But only because I thought your presence would make things worse for my kids.I don’t agree with the way you handled things with Paul, and we definitely need to have a talk about behavior around children, but that’ll be much later.”“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”“You didn’t.”“Good.”“I made my decision.”Cedric’s eyes widened.He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.“Okay.”“I’m moving in,” Kevin said immediately.No reason to drag it out, or play games.“Effective tonight, so after we leave my parents’ house we’re going to my place, and you can help me pack.”“Of course!” Cedric hugged him so tightly Kevin thought his lungs might burst.“Whatever you need.”“I love you, oddball,” he whispered, settling into Cedric’s arms.“I love you, too.”Kevin leaned back, rubbed Cedric’s lower lip with his thumb, and hugged him again, not giving a shit that others might be watching.“Today I realized I have what really matters in life.My kids, my family…you… I’ll find a way to deal with everything else.”“We will find a way.” Cedric framed Kevin’s face with his gloved, slightly trembling hands.“We.”Kevin nodded slowly, and smiled at him.“We.”EPILOGUEThere were about two hundred kids running around.Kevin said only twenty-five had been invited, but after one hour of watching the celebration unfold, it’d become quite clear to Cedric his boyfriend had been misinformed.Every time Cedric turned around he noticed a few more.Either kids were still arriving or the ones already in attendance were multiplying.They were loud, too.Laughing and crying, and screaming and screeching.Their high level decibel slowly but surely driving him mental.They were full of beans, they were dirty, and personal space was a concept they’d obviously never heard of.The party decorations weren’t helping him feel comfortable either.At some point an explosion of pink, purple and turquoise had occurred, resulting in hanging garlands, a side of the room covered with coral reef wallpaper, sponge marine creatures, and some sort of fake island that didn’t follow any specific pattern.Nobody had taken the time to design the concept properly, and it was a violation to Cedric’s sight, and his need for organization.He retreated farther into a corner of the not-big-enough playroom where Ava’s birthday party was taking place, managing to avoid what looked like a stampede of four-year-old, germ-carrying terrors.After this experience, he’d need twenty additional sessions with his therapist.Within a week.“…eleven…twelve…thirteen…”He should be in the parking lot with TK.The boy had declared himself “too old for bouncy slides and castles, and Little Mermaid crap”, and stayed outside playing with his portable video game.Being how Cedric was too bloody OCD to withstand the chaos and confusion that was a toddler’s birthday celebration, he should’ve followed suit.Keep the little chap company, and continue the bonding process.“…eighteen…nineteen….twenty…”But Kevin was inside, and truth be told, Cedric was a bit worried about Ava.All that running around couldn’t be good for her asthma.“…twenty-three…twenty-four….twenty-five…”Cedric rearranged the pink and purple garlands around him in artful sets of three, picked up a few empty cups from a nearby bench, and dropped them in the rubbish bin.“…twenty-nine…thirty…”He took a deep breath, closed his eyes briefly, then looked around the room.Once he had spotted both Ava and Brianna, and made sure they were okay, he sat down on a tiny chair, pulled out his mobile, and started recording Ava.He’d accumulated at least a hundred short videos in the past three weeks, taken during Ava’s ballet practice, Brianna’s spelling bee competition, TK’s final soccer game, and the first weekend the kids spent at his flat.He treasured the little clips.They were all important events.Slices of life Cedric never thought he’d get to experience.“Our flat,” he said under his breath.“I need to get used to saying our flat.”“Are you talking to yourself again?”Cedric broke into a smile, and turned his mobile in Kevin’s direction.“You know me,” he said as he recorded his lover.“Always the freak.”A year ago Cedric would have never said something like that.He was too self-conscious about his condition back then.Too uptight.But not anymore.Therapy had made a difference.Time, patience, and unconditional love had made even more of a difference, and Cedric felt whole.Now he could make fun of himself.He could joke about his little quirks.“You have oddities,” Kevin promptly corrected him.“And those oddities make me a freak.” He kept recording as Kevin placed two bottled waters, and a big slice of birthday cake on the table.Amazing how no matter what he did, Kevin always managed to look hot.Beautiful.Cedric also had a collection of videos he had taken of Kevin.Most were mundane.Kevin doing dishes, shaving, cross because the espresso machine had stopped working… But some others were intimate, and absolutely delicious.The kind a bloke would watch when he wanted to jack off.“Those oddities make you the man I fell in love with.”And how bloody fantastic was that? Best feeling in the world.Nothing could compare to having someone fall in love with you because you’re a head case and do a lot of weird things as a result—not in spite of being a head case, and doing a lot of weird things as a result.Cedric put his mobile down, and looked Kevin in the eye.“You know, I’m starting to believe you actually mean that,” he teased.Kevin kissed him on the nose.“I wouldn’t have you any other way, babe.”“And speaking of freaks,” Cedric quipped, laughing when Kevin kicked his shin playfully.“How are you holding up?” Kevin asked in a more serious tone.Cedric took a bottle of water, and gulped down half of its content.“I’m going barmy,” he confessed.“But I can handle it for a little longer.”He and Kevin had an agreement.Cedric would never lie about how situations affected him, and Kevin wouldn’t try to fix things for him.It was easier said than done, though [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]